AIDS Action Announces '97 Priorities as 105th Congress Set to Convene

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Contact: Joe Zuñiga, AIDS Action
(202) 986-1300 Ext. 3042

WASHINGTON, D.C. - AIDS Action, the nation's flagship AIDS advocacy
organization, announced today its top legislative and policy priorities for
1997. Among these priorities are securing increased funding for AIDS programs,
preserving health care entitlements, advocating for managed care consumer
protections, addressing the access to care and drug therapies crisis, and
protecting the civil rights of all people living with HIV and AIDS. Other
priorities include advocating for community-based prevention efforts to curb HIV
infection, and strengthening programs that provide adequate housing for people
living with AIDS.

"Last year brought exciting news about the potential of new AIDS drug therapies
to produce dramatic health improvements for people living with HIV and AIDS,"
said Deputy Executive Director Christine Lubinski. "Access to care will be the
most salient issue we face in 1997. However, this issue is only one piece of the
puzzle. It has always been AIDS Action's position that the most effective
federal response to the epidemic must address all the needs of Americans living
with HIV and AIDS, and our legislative priorities reflect that philosophy."

AIDS Action's legislative and policy priorities for 1997 include:

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AIDS Program Funding

AIDS Action will advocate for increased fiscal year 1998
(FY98) funding for all AIDS care and social service programs. FY98 funding
increases will be sought for the five titles of the Ryan White CARE Act program,
including a separate appropriation for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP)
and the AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETC) program; the Housing
Opportunities for People With AIDS (HOPWA) program and the McKinney Homeless
Assistance grants; AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH);
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) prevention programs, especially
community-based HIV prevention programs and STD prevention efforts; and
substance abuse prevention and treatment efforts at the Substance Abuse & Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Achieving funding increases may be made more difficult given President Clinton's
stated commitment to achieving a balanced budget by 2002. AIDS Action fears that
Clinton may recommend FY98 budget cuts in health and social programs, as well as
fundamental changes to entitlement programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, in
order to deliver a balanced budget. AIDS Action will work to ensure that the
Clinton administration protects the integrity of essential HIV and AIDS programs
in the face of budgetary pressures.

AIDS Action will also work with the 105th Congress to protect funding for
critical AIDS programs. If the 105th Congress moves forward with major
reductions in domestic discretionary or entitlement spending, entitlement
reform, and/or tax cuts, AIDS Action will monitor and respond to the impact of
these proposals on programs vital to people living with HIV and AIDS.

Health Care Entitlements

Medicaid serves as a health care safety-net for 53
percent of adults and 90 percent of children living with HIV and AIDS.
Concurrently, Medicare has become an important health care payer, as people
living with HIV and AIDS automatically qualify for Medicare parts A and B by
maintaining SSDI or SSI disability income for at least 25 months. Alarmingly,
both Medicaid and Medicare have been targeted for major budget cuts in the
deficit reduction plans of both political parties.

Protecting Medicaid. AIDS Action will aggressively oppose any proposal to
dramatically cut Medicaid spending and/or restructure the Medicaid program. Deep
cuts in Medicaid coupled with dramatic restructuring would likely threaten the
quality and comprehensiveness of health care available to people living with HIV
and AIDS.

Expanding Medicaid Access. In addition to protecting Medicaid, AIDS Action
will work with the Clinton administration and congressional leaders to expand
access to the Medicaid program for low-income, HIV-positive individuals. At a
minimum, access must be provided to outpatient medical services and prescription
drugs.

Monitoring Medicaid Managed Care. AIDS Action will monitor the Medicaid waiver
process for its responsiveness to the special needs of people living with HIV
and AIDS. As the enrollment of disabled populations in Medicaid managed care
escalates, AIDS Action will advocate for regulatory and administrative measures
that will ensure that people living with HIV and AIDS receive high quality,
affordable health care.

Protecting Medicare. AIDS Action will work to ensure that proposals to cut
spending and restructure the Medicare program do not undermine the health care
available to Medicare beneficiaries living with HIV and AIDS. AIDS Action will
also explore opportunities to address significant coverage deficits in the
current Medicare program - notably the absence of outpatient prescription drug
coverage.

Managed Care Consumer Protections

Over half of all Americans receive their
health care through some type of managed care arrangement. AIDS Action will work
to increase consumer protections in the private managed care insurance market
through the passage of viable managed care legislative proposals in the 105th
Congress. AIDS Action will also work with coalition partners to develop a
comprehensive managed care bill, and will work with the Clinton administration
and federal agencies on managed care regulations to ensure consumer access to
quality care.

Prevention

AIDS Action's 1997 prevention agenda will include administrative and
legislative advocacy to lift the federal funding ban on needle exchange
programs; oversight of the management and administration of HIV prevention
research and program funds at the CDC and the NIH and of federal prevention
dollars managed by local and state health departments; and the coordination of
opposition to Rep. Tom Coburn's (R-Okla.) HIV prevention legislation. AIDS
Action will continue to oppose federally mandated mandatory testing, names
reporting, and partner notification. Finally, AIDS Action will engage in a
reexamination of counseling and testing programs, particularly in light of the
great need to promote knowledge of serostatus and access to early intervention,
and will continue to monitor and oppose congressional restrictions on the
content of federally funded HIV prevention programs.

Housing

There is an inextricable link between stable and affordable housing for
people living with HIV and AIDS and the ability to access care and the promise
of new drug therapies. AIDS Action will work with the Clinton administration and
the 105th Congress to reauthorize the Housing Opportunities for People With AIDS
(HOPWA) program, which expired in 1994. AIDS Action will also work with the
Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) to make existing housing
programs more accessible and appropriate to people living with AIDS through the
development of programs and policies that are responsive to their needs.
Additionally, AIDS Action will work to see that an agenda is set for HUD's newly
formed Office of HIV/AIDS Housing.

Ryan White Care Act

The 104th Congress passed the Ryan White CARE Act
Amendments of 1996, which reauthorized the CARE Act for another five years. In
1997, AIDS Action will monitor the development of federal guidance for the
implementation of the reauthorized law with the goal of ensuring a reasonable
and consistent application of the legislation's requirements for CARE Act-funded
programs.

AIDS Drug Assistance Program

At least 20 states have or are projecting serious
ADAP budget shortfalls, leading to caps in enrollments, caps on triple
combination drug therapy access, tightened eligibility standards, and restricted
state drug formularies. Obviously, increasing both federal and state support for
ADAP is an integral part of increasing access to comprehensive HIV and AIDS
treatments. In addition, AIDS Action will work to improve federal- and
state-level oversight of the ADAP program to assure that it works as fairly and
efficiently as possible with the funds available. Finally, AIDS Action will
assume a leadership role in developing and nurturing a national coalition whose
mission will be to influence pharmaceutical industry decision-making on pricing,
enhance discount programs for public payers such as Medicaid and ADAP, and
improve the accountability of drug company patient assistance programs.

FDA

AIDS Action will continue to be at the forefront of the fight to preserve
the integrity of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its mission to
enhance and protect the public health. AIDS Action will also monitor AIDS drug
applications, and will work with the FDA to ensure that patients have access to
complete and clear information about available HIV/AIDS drug therapies.

NIH Reauthorization

AIDS Action will work with the 105th Congress to
reauthorize the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While there is potential
for negative amendments - HIV prevention research, needle exchange, and other
social agenda items - the likely top issues for AIDS Action will be the
structure of the Office of AIDS Research (OAR) and the mechanism for funding all
AIDS research at the NIH. AIDS Action will work to preserve the OAR's
consolidated budget authority. In addition, AIDS Action's work on NIH oversight
will be tightly focused on assuring the implementation of the recommendations of
the Levine Committee, which in 1996 released its strategic plan for AIDS
research. Special attention will be paid to the Levine Committee's call for
better coordination of prevention research and the revitalization of the vaccine
program.

Civil Rights

AIDS Action will advocate for the reauthorization of The
Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability,
including HIV disease, in programs that receive federal funding. AIDS Action
will monitor legislative attempts to undermine key federal civil rights statutes
such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and work to protect the
fundamental rights of legal immigrants and undocumented persons. And, AIDS
Action will monitor the implementation of the Immigration Reform Act of 1996 and
its effect on both documented and undocumented residents living with HIV and
AIDS. AIDS Action will also monitor actions affecting access to public benefits
and other civil rights matters, and will monitor Immigration and Naturalization
Services (INS) actions in response to the first U.S. asylum case granted on the
grounds that the applicant would be persecuted because of his serostatus.

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